Every Gunner G1 Kennel Size Is Crash-Rated Except the Large

CPS put a G1 Intermediate through its 2015 crate study with a 75 lb crash-test dog inside. Gunner's four-strap kit held it in the middle of a simulated cargo area, as Gunner's instructions describe. Neither the straps' hardware nor their webbing gave way. The kennel never hit the seatback, and apart from slightly bent anchor pins its body showed no structural problems. The locked door stayed shut, then unlocked and opened normally, and the test dog stayed inside. CPS judged the result good enough that a second run wasn't needed.

Other crates in the same study show what a weaker result looks like. One rival's straps snapped and the crate tumbled off the sled, and in another run its door had to be pried open with a small crowbar. A door that still opens after a crash is how someone at the roadside gets your dog out.

That 2015 test earned the Intermediate its five-star certification, and the Small and Medium earned theirs in 2017. CPS lists video evidence and a test number for each. The tests describe the kennel as it was built then. Even so, it outweighs the drop and pressure tests on Gunner's own site, because CPS published the result itself.

Gunner sizes the G1 by your dog's weight, and each size CPS rated was tested with a dog at or above that size's limit.

• Small: dogs up to 30 lb, a 27 lb kennel, five stars with a 30 lb test dog.
• Medium: dogs up to 45 lb, a 38 lb kennel, five stars with a 45 lb test dog.
• Intermediate: dogs up to 70 lb, a 48 lb kennel, five stars with a 75 lb test dog.
• Large: dogs of 71 lb and up, a 72 lb kennel, no CPS rating.

The Intermediate's test dog was heavier than the most Gunner allows in it, so a dog inside the limit is inside what CPS tested.

Gunner says every size has protected real dogs in real wrecks, but owner stories aren't a crash test, and CPS lists no rating for the Large. For a bigger dog, we'd buy a crate rated in that size. Lucky Duck's Lucky Kennel Large passed with a 110 lb test dog, and Cabela's GunDog Kennel Large with a 90 lb dog.

Gunner lists the Intermediate at 34 in long and 23 in wide outside, with handles on top, so measure the cargo floor before you order.

The five-star rating covers the G1 with Gunner's tie-down straps, which Gunner sells separately. Gunner calls them the only straps it recommends for that rating and rates them at 5,100 lb break strength. Order them with the kennel.

A strap is only as strong as what it hooks to. CPS warned in February 2026 that cargo-area anchors aren't always rated for crash forces, and that the cargo floor may be weaker than it looks. Its advice is to ask your carmaker three things: whether the anchors are strength-rated, what load the cargo platform takes, and whether stronger anchors exist for your model. Those questions are the part of a crash-safe car setup that no crate can answer for you.

In a crash, the advisory says, a crated dog's mass is the dog plus the crate. Put a dog at the Intermediate's limit inside it and the anchors hold back 118 lb. Say your dog weighs 90 lb and rides in the Large: that's 162 lb on four straps and whatever they're hooked to.

The advisory also warns off extension tethers and zipline-style rigs. A dog that rides on the back seat needs a crash-tested harness instead of a crate.

Gunner's heat and cold claims come from comparisons it ran with an unnamed aluminum kennel and an unnamed single-wall one. Don't buy the G1 for those numbers. Weight is the bigger day-to-day fact: empty, the Large weighs about as much as the biggest dog Gunner puts in the Intermediate. Its door can be hinged on either side and has a paddle latch with a key lock. The floor drains, the base is non-slip, and Gunner covers the kennel with a lifetime warranty.